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Coming from a 98 GTP, My 2014 2LTZ seems to leave some to be desired

6K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  Replacement 
#1 · (Edited)
I am coming from a lightly modded Grand Prix GTP (supercharged), 1.8 rr, exhaust, intake, tune, suspension upgrades, smaller supercharger pulley and the Impala seems to be lacking in the torque and shifting department. I am new to this platform and feel that this car needs to "wake up" but would like some first hand feedback on what works, what doesn't and where to start to get the 305 hp feel.

What i don't like is that I have to "give it gas" to get up the curb going to my driveway and have to really put my foot down to get to the HP on the road. At the same time I don't want to have to baby the gas because a tune made the pedal "touchy".

What I do like is all of the bells and whistles (not to mention safety) that this car has to offer.

I have purchased this car used with 31k on it from a dealer and it came with a lifetime drive train warranty and would like to keep any upgrades "warranty friendly".

 
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#3 ·
I had my 2014 9th GEn Impala 3.6L v6 car since jun 2014 and had the same doubts as you.

The car needs to wakeup it feels it has a loss soul without a proper character. Its quiet and nice but was little dull for me coming from 2009 VW Jetta GLI. i updated few mods which i never regretted and never had any issues until now, with almost 54,000km on odometer.

i will mention the mods below and can't be happier since. the car feels alive and pulls hard...surprisingly it has high torque at low rpm and car spins first and bit in second Gear with 20inch rims.

Mods installed:
1- HP Tune from Will Overkill
2- Cold air intake from will overkill
3- Throttle Body from Will overkill
4- Jacfab intake spacer from will overkill
5- grantelli performance ignitions coils
6- power bond under-drive pulley
7- NGK Spark plugs LTR6IX-11

THE only thing missing for me is the high flow cats which i haven't seen in the market yet !

i drive the car daily and my warranty is still valid..luckily never encountered any issues. its a great car i love it. After the mods its a totally different car. i the no plans to push the car even further since its a i have GOLF R on the side! which has the opposite character.

when I'm running normal mod/sport mode go for IMPALA...if I'm on a beast mode then the GOLF R =)
 
#14 ·
I have a 2014 Impala LTZ bought in Dec 2015 with only 5K miles and love the car. I'm a big guy at 6'3" 300 and this is the first car that ever fit me perfectly love this thing but always wondered if I could get more performance without spending a lot. How much for the mods you did listed above and did you do them yourself or have a shop do them? I'm not a gearhead in any way shape or form except basic stuff so I'd have to have help. What kind of leap in performance did you see? I think this motor is pretty strong as it and love turning 2100rpm at 85 on cruise control up and down I-95 here in Florida but would like to sneak up on some of the young punks flying around out there! Thanks for any info you can share.
 
#5 ·
I am new to this platform and feel that this car needs to "wake up" but would like some first hand feedback on what works, what doesn't and where to start to get the 305 hp feel.

What i don't like is that I have to "give it gas" to get up the curb going to my driveway and have to really put my foot down to get to the HP on the road. At the same time I don't want to have to baby the gas because a tune made the pedal "touchy".

What I do like is all of the bells and whistles (not to mention safety) that this car has to offer.

I have purchased this car used with 31k on it from a dealer and it came with a lifetime drive train warranty and would like to keep any upgrades "warranty friendly".

I would suggest Trifecta tuning for the situation that you are in. It install the tune with a transparency option so rewrites of the ECM and TCM are not logged. It can easily be reverted if you do need to take it in to the shop. The other option is Overkill Tuning but you have no transparency option (like 1994VMax said, it can be logged) and is really meant for those the want to do other mods like air intake, throttle body and intake spacer.
 
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#7 ·
Overkill 91 octane tune will do exactly what your looking for, best bang for buck. Usually is on any vehicle. But it voids warrenty. My dealer has yet to notice my tune, only my exhaust/intake/catch can and they are not bothered.
 
#8 ·
Overkill 91 best bang for buck. But it voids warrenty. My dealer has yet to notice my tune, only my exhaust/intake/catch can and they are not bothered.
Not to pick on you but the original poster has said EXPLICITLY does not want to chance voiding his warranty and is uninterested in doing crazy mods. Plus the fact that the Overkill tune costs over $150 more than Trifecta. Certainly not the best bang for your buck.
 
#10 ·
Ok, trust me, Im not trying to sh!t on the O.P. at all but...SERIOUSLY!!!
Dude, youre coming from a 98 gtp that im guessing put a lil more than 240 to the crank and a slushbox of a 4 speed automatic! It used to be that engine and trans combo was the cats a$$. But damn times have changed. IDK about you, but I feel these 305 horses sh!t and get and the 6 spd transmission is light years ahead of the old fwd 700r4 variant. Some things irk me like the shifting of the trans and what I would call programming issues plainly set for comfort vs performance.
Your GTP also had a throttle cable that you could properly manipulate when you wanted to. These cars are drive by wire and require some finesse, if you will.
These cars are not meant to be autocrossed. Theyre meant to be driven and cruise bog long straights of american blacktop.
 
#11 ·
240 HP is stock on those GTP's. I never dyno'ed it, but I could tell a difference from stock to the final product (over 240), the tune also changed shift points and pressure. I just figured that 305 would have more that what I am getting out of it now, but maybe I was expecting too much from the Impala... I have the tune now, haven't installed it yet, hopefully it makes the difference I was hoping for. I'll keep you posted.
 
#13 ·
My 2001 GTP had a 3.4 pulley, SLP headers and catback, Thrasher intake, and Intense tune... Trans Go shift kit etc... I would have no problem lining my Impala up against it. I am with you on the factory tuning of the 6 speed trans but aftermarket tuning addresses that. In a nutshell, I feel the Overkill tune and parts package is a decent HP to $$ mod. However, you don't want to risk that lifetime warranty... Let's put that into perspective... The dealer gave you that perk to sell you the car and is banking on you dumping it in 3-5 years, hence no more lifetime warranty. I would ask the dealer service department about mod plans and see what they say. With my GTO back in the day, my Pontiac dealer didn't care what I did. Now with the dealer being able to see tune changes today, it makes it harder to do stuff. If your dealer frowns upon mods, then you have a choice to make. In reality, I don't see an intake, TB, MAF, spacer and tune killing a modern engine. Chevy warranty folks will probably beg to differ.
 
#15 ·
Dunno about your car, as to why it feels lacking to you. The factory 300+ hp in ours is definitely not sluggish. Maybe the 31k before you bought it, it was driven like a granny, and the car "learned" that, hear so much about the patterns and behaviors of driving altering how these cars perform. How true that all is I am not certain. I know our 12, you step on the gas and it will go. When new, had to be very careful if the pavement was at all wet, those lousy factory "performance" goodyears would break traction when the car shifted to second often.

Get my foot into it, it gets to 60 plenty fast enough. I'd be real curious just how quick the car does get to 60 and the quarter.
 
#19 ·
Welcome to the forum. I would have to imagine it has something to do with the way his tune is coded as it is really just a updated firmware for you TCM and ECU. Trifecta has a transparency option and if you are not looking at doing a bunch of other engine upgrades it is the better option.
 
#23 ·
I'm surprised several find the 3.6L having the same feel issues as the prior gen's 3500/3900. I have thought the same thing about my 2007 model. It's not the car's power, which really is sufficient because you can get on it and it'll move...

Mine is tuned which helped a lot but there is still a "feeling" issue in the gas pedal itself. I have relegated this concern to drive-by-wire just not being as good as a throttle cable. There are imperceivable milliseconds of delay, constant ecu computations and interventions, not sure if DBW will EVER be as good as a cable to be honest. Funny thing is GM's is actually really good compared to some other cars I've driven.
 
#24 ·
I finally got around to installing the Trifecta Tune about 1 month ago. It did make a decent difference, worth the $. I am still getting used to it, but I don't think I care for the feel that it is 1 gear lower than should be when not accelerating. I believe this was done to have power as soon as you press the pedal, but it doesn't seem to coast as far as when I disable the tune so I am either switching the tune on and off frequently or I am finding myself applying more pedal pressure when highway driving.

Anyone else have this tune and experience the same thing?
 
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